So the pitcher who was one of the big reasons why Indians officials felt they could cover for the loss of Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir to free agency never even made it to Memorial Day.
How shaky was Danny Salazar?
In the American League, only Max Scherzer, Jon Lester and Yu Darvish are averaging more strikeouts per nine innings than Salazar (10.4), but it still wasn’t enough.
Kid Bazooka turned out to be all sizzle and no steak, and he is now officially a Columbus Clipper.
May 16 was Sayonara Salazar Day at Progressive Field as the Indians optioned him to Triple-A, after eight what-the-hey? starts.
Salazar wore out his welcome by wearing out the Indians’ bullpen, so it was fitting that his demotion allowed the Indians to fortify the bullpen Salazar regularly depleted in most of his four or five-inning starts.
To replace Salazar on the roster, the Indians called up left-handed reliever Kyle Crockett, who might be the only player in the majors who doesn’t shave. Not because he has a beard, but because he couldn’t grow one if he wanted to.
“He looks like he just turned 13,” said Manager Terry Francona.
This is the second adjustment made to the rotation in the first six weeks of the season. The first was caused by still another crash and burn by Carlos Carrasco, an event that seemed to catch nobody by surprise but Indians officials.
Carrasco was quickly (four starts) banished to the bullpen, where his job description is now blowout maintenance, pitching the garbage time innings of games that are out-of-hand one way or the other, such as May 14 in Toronto, when he pitched one inning, the ninth, and turned a 15-2 Indians lead into a 15-4 Indians win. He did not get a hold.
You could have won a lot of bets on opening day if you had been willing to wager that on May 16 Salazar would no longer be on the Indians’ major-league roster — but Carrasco would.
There are reasons why the Indians began play on May 16 in last place in the AL Central. Salazar and Carrasco are two of them. In games started by Salazar and Carrasco, the Indians’ record is 4-8. However, Carrasco’s flameout is not nearly as troubling as Salazar’s.
Carrasco’s ship sailed long ago as far as him being counted on as being a pitcher the Indians could count on.
Salazar is a different story.
He is — was? — supposed to be The Next Big Thing.
In eight starts this year, he was merely the next thing.
Now he’s a Columbus Clipper.
This does nothing to help the Indians close the gap between themselves and the division-leading Tigers. Coming off his mouth-watering 10-start debut with the Indians in the second half of last season, Salazar’s big arm did big things and triggered big expectations for him in 2014.
Nobody, or at least very few, expected him to be a Clipper before Memorial Day.
“We thought for him now,” Francona said, “it made sense to send him to Triple-A, to allow him to work on what he needs to work on.”
It’s a long list.
In eight starts for the Tribe, Salazar — those big strikeout numbers notwithstanding — was a forgettable 1-4 with a 5.53 ERA. In most of those starts, it seemed like anyone Salazar didn’t strike out got a hit — many of them big hits. His .301 opponents’ batting average is the highest among Tribe pitchers, and 20 of the 49 hits he gave up were either doubles or home runs.
Salazar is sixth in the AL in home runs allowed (eight), despite being 48th in the league in innings pitched (40).
“Right now when he makes mistakes, he’s paying for it,” Francona said. “He’s not pitching deep into games, which hurts our pen. He’s not locating his fastball down in the zone, his curve is inconsistent and he’s gotten away from his changeup, which is one of his best pitches.”
Other than that ...
“I don’t know if it it’s always about youth,” an exasperated Francona said after Salazar’s farewell performance May 15 in Toronto, when he heaved 98 pitches plateward in a four-inning start/cameo, giving up two runs on five hits, including two homers and a double, with two walks and a hit batter.
Salazar is not the first pitcher who has failed in his first opportunity at a full-season fling in a major-league rotation. Truth be told, this might be the norm more than the exception. However, Francona doesn’t sound like a manager who has lost faith in his young gunslinger.
“He will be back, and he will be good,” said Francona.
But for now, he’s a Clipper.
JIngraham
@News-Herald.com
@jitribeinsider